Understanding How Eyes Work

Every day you look at objects, people, colours, words, numbers which all help you to understand the world. You might not often think about how your eyes work but they are an essential part of how we carry out our daily activities.

The eyes work like small round machines constantly working to help us see things. They are made up of little parts which work together and send messages to the brain. Light bounces off objects into our eyes to allow us to see them. 

What’s what?

The bits you can see: An eye is made up of several different parts. The parts you can see are the pupil (the black dot in the centre), the iris (the coloured area surrounding the pupil) and the sclera (the white area around the iris). These parts are all enclosed by your eyelids which are rimmed with eyelashes to filter out any nasty dirt or grime before it harms your eyes. In the corner of your eyes are your tear ducts. These are in charge of releasing tears to keep your eyes clean and to cry when you’re feeling sad!

The pupil acts as a little shutter to decide how much light enters your eye. If it is a very bright day, your pupils will contract (get smaller) to allow less light in. In darkness, your pupil will dilate (get bigger) to get as much light into your eye as possible. [Handy tip: Try looking at your cat’s eyes in daylight and then again when it gets dark to see how they change!]

The bits you can’t see: Over the front of your eye is a clear layer called a cornea. This layer is completely clear to allow light to pass through and reach the back of your eye where it can be sent to the brain to be processed.

At the back of your eye, there is a delicate layer called a retina (about the size of a postage stamp) which is made up of tiny cells. These cells are called rods and cones. The cone cells are found in the centre of the retina and help us to see things sharply and clearly. Rod cells are around the edge of the retina and help us to see things moving and in dim light. For example, imagine looking at a car parked outside your house. The cone cells help you to clearly see the shape of the car, the colours and windows etc. Next, imagine the car moving down the road at night. This is when the rod cells start to work. They help you to see the car in motion in the darkness.

These cells collect light signals and send them to the optic nerve, almost like a relay race. The optic nerve receives the signals and sends them to the brain to be processed and allow us to understand what we see.

Interesting facts you might not know:
1.    When an image is projected on the back of your retina, it is upside down! The optic nerve sends the signals to the brain where it is turned the right way up.
2.    All babies are born with blue eyes- ask your parents! This is because other colours such as brown and green take longer to develop. By the time you’re 6 months old, your eyes will have reached their final colour.
3.    You blink around 12 times a minute! You won’t even notice you do it but blinking helps to keep your eyes clean and moist to protect them from dust and dirt. 

It’s useful to understand how eyes work because they are an essential part of how we function every day.

Featured images:

•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/results.aspx?qu=eyes&ex=2#ai:MP900423034|mt:2|

Victoria is a blogger for glasses frames website, DirectSight.

Facts About Scorpions That You Should Know

Scorpions are one of the most common pests found in dry areas like the desert. These pests can easily invade a home in search of food, water, and shelter. If you do nothing to get rid of them, they can become a huge problem. This is especially true if your home was invaded by the venomous type.

Differences between Venomous and Non-Venomous Scorpions
Technically speaking though, all scorpions have venoms. What makes them "venomous" and "non-venomous" to humans is the amount of venom in their sting and the damage that it can do to humans.

In a nutshell, "venomous" scorpions have thick tails. They also have thin pincers. On the other hand, "non-venomous" scorpions have thin tails, and they also have pincers that are not only thick and broad, but very well-developed as well. Aside from this, the stinger of a "venomous" scorpion is also much bigger and thicker than the "non-venomous" type which is smaller and thinner. What this basically means though is that "venomous" scorpions rely more on their stingers and venom to catch and overpower their prey, while "non-venomous" scorpions rely on their pincers to catch their prey and overpower them.

The importance of knowing these differences is that you can exercise more care and caution when you spot a scorpion. When you see that its pincers are smaller in relation to its body, then you'll know to avoid it or get rid of it carefully because its venom is more potent.

Common Scorpion Facts
Scorpions live in arid, dry places like the dessert. However, their bodies are very sensitive to water loss that they immediately search for water when their bodies begin to lose moisture. If your home has scorpions, you will notice that you'll commonly see them under the sink where there are water puddles. This is because they need water to keep their bodies hydrated. If you want to keep them away, see to it that there are no water puddles under your sink or leaky faucets where they can get their water from.

During the day, scorpions tend to hide from the sun and burrow in tight, snug places like under a rock. If they've invaded your home, they're going to look for similar places to burrow under, so it's not surprising to see them inside shoes. Because of their tendency to look for tight, snug places, it is important that you always shake out your shoes before you put them on. You most definitely don't want to get stung by a scorpion.

Scorpions have excellent sense of smell. They can easily locate a prey using their sense of smell, and they can also easily and quickly hide from any sign of danger. Scorpions are also known to recognize light and dark, so for example you're going to make certain your home has been invaded by scorpions, then do it at night or with the lights closed. With a UV light, shine it along the walls. Scorpions will glow green when the UV light hits them because of the fluorescent in their bodies.

Getting rid of scorpions is quite easy. Get rid of their food and water source, and they're out of your home in no time. If you've having difficulties getting rid of these pests, then a call to your local pest control company might be of good help.

Citations:

• http://sxc.hu/

Jennifer Dallman, a freelance article provider, regularly contributes to pest control blogs, one of which is Preventive Pest. She writes mostly about homemade tips to get rid of pests as well as homemade strategies to keep them away from your home.

5 Most World-Changing Engineering Discoveries of the 20th Century

cc licensed flickr photo shared by auspices

The 20th century featured more engineering discoveries in a shorter period of time than in any other century in the world's history. This makes it very difficult to choose five that have changed the world more than the others up for consideration. Below is the list, not definitive by any means, in reverse order.

Number 5: Radio/Television
Radio, which actually made its' debut broadcasting the America's Cup in 1899, instantly made the world a smaller place. After this initial broadcast, the discovery of the diode and the vacuum tube made live vocal broadcasting possible. Almost every home in America had a radio by the 1930s and televisions soon followed in the 1940s. No longer did people have to wait days to hear important news. It could also be said that radio and television changed the world socially (and continue to do so today) more than any other invention.

Number 4: Airplanes
Almost every great engineering discovery has helped make our world a smaller place, and airplanes are no exception. We can now travel from the United States to Europe in under seven hours, where by boat before flight took about ten days. Invented by the Wright Brothers in 1903, the technology developed quickly, just in time for World War I. By the late 50s air travel overtook railways as the most popular way of traveling for Americans. Planes also allow us to receive goods from overseas very quickly, where before it would take months.

Number 3: Telephone
This is a technology that is still developing now with mobile and cell phones gaining more and more popularity every day. Before the telephone it would take days to send news to a loved one in the next state; the telephone made this possible almost instantly. As technology got better through the 20th century more and more telephone lines went up in even the remotest areas. Today's mobile technology using satellites makes communication in even the remotest locations on earth possible. Imagine your life today without your cell phone.

Number 2: Computers
Computers are a very important part of almost everyone's lives today, but only 35 years ago these machines could take up a whole room and couldn't do more than add up numbers quickly. Today we use them as sources of information, to surf the internet, to communicate with friends and business associates, to write papers for school, and much more. Computers have allowed people from all over the world in vastly different cultures to meet up and share their experiences and learn from each other. Was there ever really a time when Google didn't exist?

Number 1: Electricity
No other engineering discovery even really comes close to the harnessing of electricity. None of the other technological engineering discoveries on this list would've even been possible without it. In fact, the rapid succession of inventions in the 20th century is almost completely attributable to the invention of electricity. Imagine your world without electricity. You would have no refrigerator, no air conditioning, and no lights. The world would be a different and much less comfortable place. We are healthier, our food lasts longer, we are safer, we are more connected, and all of this can be directly attributed to the engineering discovery we call electricity. Nothing has changed the world in quite the same.

Robin Tyler is an electrical engineer and guest author at Engineering-Management.net, a site with helpful information for prospective students about choosing a school to get an online masters in engineering management.

Going Platinum

Can reality trump fiction?  That was the question of the day on April 24th, at the launch of the firm Planetary Resource’s plan to mine metals from asteroids and return them to Earth, at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

It sounds like a James Cameron film—fittingly, Mr. Cameron is one of the company’s backers.  The team behind the firm insists they aren’t joking.  The founders are Peter Diamndis, designer of the x Prize awarded in 2004 to Paul Allen and Burt Rutan for the first private space flight, and Eric Anderson, whose company Space Adventures has sent seven tourists into orbit.  Larry Page and Eric Smith, the chief executive and the chairman of Google, respectively, are involved in the project, too.  As is Charles Synmonyi, the engineer who managed the creation of Microsoft Office software (and who has visited space twice via Mr. Anderson’s company).  With a list of backers like that, the least you can do is take them seriously.

Most asteroids consist of unconsolidated lumps of leftover rubble from the birth of solar system.  Many, too, are chunks of small planets that have slammed into one another of the past several billion years.  These particularly have caught the eye of Planetary Resources, because the planet forming processes of melting mineral, and then stratification into core, mantle, and crust, will have organized to concentrate valuable materials into usable ores.  For example, platinum and its allied elements are rare on the Earth’s surface, but are likely more common in our metal-rich core.  It’s likely the same case for planets shattered and turned to asteroids.  Indeed, the discovery of a layer of rock rich in iridium—a relative of platinum—was the first indicator for geologists that an asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs.

Most asteroids hover between Mars and Jupiter’s orbits.  But enough of them are near-Earth asteroids (called NEAs) to be worth investigating as mineral sources—if that can be accomplished economically.

Don’t Count your Chickens
First we must locate a likely prospect.  Today, we know of about 9,000 NEAs, primarily through ground-based programs keeping tabs on bodies that might hit Earth.  That catalogue is a good starting point, but Planetary Resources would like to go further.  They intend to launch a series of small telescopes to seek out accessible asteroids whose orbits near Earth frequently enough for the mined resources to be returned at regular intervals, a plan that will cost a few million dollars.

That isn’t projected as too challenging, but it is seceded by a tougher phase.  In over a decade, when suitable targets have been identified, the company will send another kind of spacecraft to examine what’s been mined.  This is projected as significantly harder than getting telescopes into orbits, but is nevertheless considered conceivable with existing technology.  It is the process from this step onward that is more conceptual.

There are two basic ways to retrieve the materials.  One way is to drop a payload on a large NEA every time its orbit passes Earth.  That’s why the telescopes would try to detect asteroids with appropriate orbits.  This approach will require intelligent robots that can work without instruction for years, mining and processing desirable material.  The second process would be to retrieve smaller asteroids, place them in orbit and then dissect the materials at leisure.  This way, though, would limit the value of the retrievable materials, and risk catastrophe if there is something wrong in maneuvering the asteroid.

In either case, the expense is guaranteed to be incredibly high.  The Kech Institute for Space Studies’ feasibility study projected a $2.5 billion cost for the retrieval of a single 5000-ton asteroid from the moon.  Earlier research indicated a $100 billion expense for even the chance of a successful asteroid-mining venture.  Further, new technologies will need to be developed, including more powerful solar panels, electric ion engines, extraterrestrial mining equipment and robotic refineries—all of which can be doubtlessly accomplished with enough money and ingenuity.  The real doubts arise in the demand, not the supply.  Platinum and iridium are expensive because they are rare.  If they become common, having been dug from the heart of a planet, they will become cheap.  The most important members of the team very well might not be the entrepreneurs and venture capitalists investing, nor the engineers who make it possible, but the economists who can project the effects on price upon the arrival of an enormous amount of the materials.

Sergeo is a writer and rabble-rouser at Edictive. He covers film production, production management, social, casting and film distribution at Edictive.

What Can Cause Eye Colour Change?

In humans the colours of the eyes - or more accurately the irises of the eyes - can vary from the lightest shade of gray to the darkest shade of brown. Predominantly it is your genes and your body’s melanin production that will determine your eye colour. However, eye colour can change throughout a person’s lifetime starting from infancy, which can be due to several factors. 

Regardless of ethnic background or the parents’ eye colour, most babies have gray or blue eyes at birth and as they grow the colour of the irises will slowly change, which can be fascinating to observe for parents and relatives. In fact, eye colour is primarily determined by the distribution and concentration of melanin within the iris fibers as well as the spacing and size of the iris fibers. Melanin is not present in the irises at birth. This is the reason why most babies have similar eye colour. However, from the age of 4 to 6 months when the body begins to produce and deposit melanin into the iris fibers, the infant’s eye colour will visibly start to change accordingly. According to experts it can take up to 5 years for the final eye colour to develop.

Eye Color Change Due to Aging

As we age, the colour of the eyes can gradually become lighter. This will most commonly occur in Caucasian people who had a lighter colour to begin with. With aging melatonin can begin to break down in the iris fibers, which can cause a visible change to a person’s eye colour. However, people who have darker eye colour will not experience a noticeable change.

Eye Color Change Due to Medications

Using Prostaglandin Analogs, which is an eye drop, prescribed for intraocular pressure or in other words pressure built up within the eyes due to the accumulation of fluids. It is important to use them, since they reduce the chances of developing optic nerve damage. However, one of the potential side effects of this drug is that the user’s irises may turn permanently brown.

Detoxing

According to research detoxing your body will significantly lighten the colour of your eyes. Not only that, it will also clear your skin, making your complexion healthy and glowing.

Illegal Drugs

Although the use of illegal substances will not cause any permanent eye colour change, neither will it affect the irises, temporarily it can make a user’s eyes glassy and red. The pupils of the eyes will significantly enlarge and controlling eye movement will also become difficult. The effects of this eye colour change will only last for a few hours before the person’s vision, eye movement and eye colour returns to normal again.

This article is provided by HolisticHubs.com .

Mind Control Simplified and Applied to the Masses

The human brain is a complex maze of learned or inherited behavior patterns. Despite the vast array of mystery still unlocked within the brain, people like Genghis Khan, Hitler, and Jim Morrison and have all used the easily influenced human mindset to their advantage.

Hitler – The First Mass Media Mind Control
In today's world, the media is a popular method of mind control, and can be used by almost anyone. Television is the primary way to reach a vast audience and influence them, and Adolf Hitler used this method of influence quite effectively. Unbeknownst to Hitler, he was utilizing a change in the alpha waves of the brain. During television viewing, the electrical activity in the brain creates waves, indicating activity and alertness. When people are meditating, are under hypnosis, are watching television for long periods of time, or are being subjected to mind control, their brain remains in the alpha wave state. Thus, when Hitler aired his speech on television, he created a very suggestible audience who latched onto his propaganda with fervor.

Hypnotherapy and Alpha Waves
Although behavior therapy may have its value for those with psychological disturbances, many therapists turn to hypnosis or relaxation techniques for treatment, which allows a greater amount of alpha waves, rather than delta waves, in the brain. This creates a dilemma, as the alpha waves may certainly allow greater relaxation in a person, but can also make them very suggestible and receptive to outside influences. Brain Washing and Alpha Waves For many years, brainwashing techniques have been discussed with horror by the media. Brain washing, or the intense coercion and change of an individual's thoughts, concepts and feelings, has been the subject of controversy since the Korean War. Interestingly, brain washing is thought to rely heavily upon alpha wave induced acceptance for particularly emphasised modes of thought and behavior.

Ironic Parallels in Mind Control

• Sleep deprivation and constant verbal and pictographic and audio messages are the techniques typically used to create mind control on prisoners.  
• Watching television also creates sleep deprivation, and pictographic and audio messages are also bombarding the brain. 
• Brainwashing creates higher concentrations of alpha waves.
• Television watching also creates higher concentrations of alpha waves.
• Brainwashing removes the ability to think independently, logically and with analysis.
• Television, by inducing an alpha wave state, also removes the ability to process information independently and logically. Sadly, despite this wealth of research and information on the chain of evidence connecting television to mind control, more people than ever before are using television as their only source of entertainment, and ultimately, paying the price with lessened creativity and independent thinking.

Mark Stein is a blogger that is passionate about mind control, self improvement, spirituality, metaphysics and other relevant topics. He currently writes about Mind Control Techniques on his blog. 

Magnesium-Ion Batteries: An Electric Vehicle Revolution?

Magnesium-Ion Batteries: An Electric Vehicle Revolution?

Gasoline prices aren’t showing any signs of falling for the long term, and the public’s desire for more fuel-efficient cars certainly has the attention of the automobile industry. Toyota, a pioneer in hybrid battery utilization, is attempting to move past the traditional lithium-ion battery towards what it hopes will be the material that revolutionizes the industry. They’re hoping to meet the expectations of the American consumer, maximizing battery life, safety, and environmental responsibility. Magnesium-Ion batteries may be provide the ultimate solution.

Hop on the Band Wag-Ion

Toyota is not alone in their enthusiasm. The Department of Energy has hopped on board as well. Their Advanced Research Projects Agency has invested heavily in the technology. Magnesium producers are hopeful that the strong expectations of the consumer in combination with Toyota’s push to develop the more cost-effective and lightweight magnesium-ion battery will mean success for them.

A Bountiful Resource

Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element found in our earth’s crust, which brings environmentalists on board as big fans of the new research. Magnesium is also inexpensive and safe. The hypothetical future of magnesium batteries is secured by the promise that they could deliver a drop-in replacement for the traditional lithium-ion batteries that are now being used. Magnesium Sulfate is commonly known as Epsom salt. Environmentally speaking, using magnesium in our common batteries would be a big improvement over lithium-ion batteries.

Recycle

One of the most recyclable products we use in America is the car battery. Up to 99% of most automotive batteries can be recycled, however they are dirty to manufacture. Environmentalists are asking for a battery made with materials that don’t require highly polluting methods of manufacturing, even though the really nasty stuff found in today’s batteries is used in very small quantities.

Investments Paying Dividends

The Department of Energy gave Pellion Technologies, Inc 3.2 million dollars in April of 2010 to develop technology that could turn magnesium into a new, better source of energy. Pellion says that its rechargeable magnesium battery will have up to three times the energy density as lithium-ion batteries. The company also claims their batteries will last longer.

Pellion explains that the new magnesium battery boasts a higher energy per unit volume / energy density than the lithium-ion batteries currently being used in electric vehicles. There are two reasons for this. Magnesium-ions transfer two electrons for each atom, not just one. That means getting double the energy density from a magnesium battery than you do from a lithium battery. Also, a magnesium-ion battery uses a magnesium metal anode which is another source of greater energy density, compared to the lithium-ion anodes.

The Catch

So what’s the holdup? Unfortunately, the folks at Toyota and Pellion have yet to identify a suitable complementary cathode for their promising new technology. Doron Aurbach, an Israeli professor, received quite a bit of attention in 2000 with the first rechargeable magnesium battery.

But the cathode he used didn’t work sufficiently well to enable commercial use of the invention. His cathode decreased the energy density of the battery to the point that the device was unusable. Research is ongoing, but the technology remains stagnant. Pellion is determined to find a suitable cathode. They have tested over 10,000 materials for potential use in its magnesium battery. Even though magnesium is only one of many lithium substitutes that could prove suitable, it’s a favorite for Pellion. Toyota says it’s magnesium battery may be available as soon as 2020.

Any electric car that can drive 500 miles on a single charge will likely require a technology that moves past the traditional lithium-ion battery. It’s impossible to say whether this new technology will be a magnesium-ion battery or if it will still be lithium, but perhaps not lithium-ion. For the moment, Toyota and Pellion have directed their time and resources to the magnesium possibility. With some luck, the possibilities could revolutionize the future of the auto industry.

Magnesium Image By Warut Roonguthai (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

George Zeed lives in Grants Pass Oregon and works for ImpactBattery.com.  An avid outdoorsman and environmentalist, he writes about topics related to all kinds of recreational vehicles and accessories. He is also the "go to guy" for information when shopping for a great selection sunlinq products and discount Motobatt batteries.

How To Survive a Nuclear Holocaust

Have you ever worried about a nuclear holocaust?  It can be a challenging time for any body and it's important to take certain steps in order to avoid radiation contamination.

Those who dwell near a radiation leak should abandon the area immediately.  In certain circumstances, the military will be dispatched to help those in severely contaminated areas as well, the television/radio will provide an emergency broadcast giving you full directions on your course of action.

A Geiger counter is an essential tool for monitoring radiation, both inside and outside of your home.  It is very important to monitor for radiation levels for if they climb too high, you will have to evacuate your facility.

I would recommend using HEPA air filters during this time, as it is imperative that you minimize the radiation inside your home.  It would also be an added benefit to vacuum on a regular basis.

Following the guideline listed below, you and your family should feel safer in the decisions you will have to make in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

From: BestHealthDegrees.com

Visualizing The Universe ~ Interactive Infographic ~ VERY kewl~!!

From our perspective on Earth, it is difficult to comprehend the vastness of space. While we stand here in our world, there are worlds beyond our galaxy. The time it would take to fly across the observable universe is unfathomable to us. How would you say 111,408,058,600,640,000? That's how many years it would take.

Clusters of stars and groups of galaxies exist in space. When displayed, how insignificant Earth seems in the scheme of things. Our planet is 12.7 million meters in diameter. Compare that to Jupiter, which is 142.9 million meters in diameter. Our sun is a whopping 1.4 billion meters in diameter.

On earth, other comparisons capture the awesomeness of our planet. A Kodiak bear is 3 meters tall, whereas a whale is 30 meters long. In geography, it's amazing that Rhode Island can fit inside of Texas 634 times! Side by side, a skin cell would dwarf hemoglobin. When we magnify the hidden wonders of our universe, amazing things can happen.



Copyright 2012. Magnifying the Universe by Number Sleuth. 

Stop the Summer Brain Drain - 7 Top Ideas for Science Fair Projects

Encouraging teenagers to learn at any age is a challenge in itself. Ever tried to get your kids to do their homework when the sun is shining? Or when the Xbox or PS3 are within their line of vision? It’s even more of a challenge when the long summer holidays lie outstretched before you in one endless run of days spent on computers killing zombies with a new online friend.

If you have a budding entrepreneur in your midst don’t let the summer sunshine drain their brain. Summer camps that focus on education and life beyond school are a great way of maintaining their brain development. Even the most reluctant learner won’t fail to be impressed by the thought of a science fair or entrepreneurial project.

Here are some of our favourite ideas for science fairs with a mix of the obvious and the not so obvious but all practical for those long summer holidays. 
   
Astronomy What inspires teenagers more than a space fair? Science fairs revolving around astronomy are sure to be a big hit. Encourage them to explore space ‘the final frontier’, with projects like building a working sun dial or creating a telescope. Explore the origins of comets, the individual planets and carry out gravity experiments. Who knows what it might set off in an inquisitive brain?

Earthquakes It’s estimated that there are 500,000 earthquakes detected across the globe each year. Thankfully only a fifth of them can actually be felt and around 100 cause damage, some of which as we know can be catastrophic. Learn about plate tectonics and build a working model of an earthquake. Participants can investigate the different types of faults and learn about how earthquakes are measured. After all, ‘quakes are natural phenomena that fascinate kids of all ages and they may also appreciate how lucky they are living in a ‘quake-free zone.

Volcanoes Closely following on from earthquakes with their link to tectonic plates, volcanoes are guaranteed to hold youthful attention. Discuss how they form, where they are located, why they erupt. Look at the differences between active and dormant volcanoes. Apply practical examples such as the volcanic ash from Iceland that disrupted air flights in 2010.  

Global Warming
Kids today are probably more eco-conscious than their parents, having been educated from an early age on the challenges and effects of global warming. Encourage them to discuss the greenhouse effect, melting polar ice caps and understand how we can help to protect the environment. They may come home with a solution to global warming all ready to go.

The Science of Dating
Yes, it’s unusual and yes there will be a few squirming at the back but at the age of first crushes and broken hearts, a science fair discussion on dating will help teenagers in particular to open up and discuss their emotions. Consider different dating rituals and carry out surveys on what type of looks attract them, such as hair and eye colour. What personality do they prefer? Do they like tattoos? Compare the results of their survey by asking members of an older generation the same questions – you’ll soon quell the hormones (temporarily of course) and it may help them gain perspective. It won’t stop the crushes though.

Spiders
Spiders, insects, whatever it is that’s easiest, any project that involves a field trip in search of bugs is always a bonus. When it comes to spiders the list of questions is endless. How long do they live? Are they poisonous? How do they create their webs? Who’s afraid of them? Do they have fangs? Which one is the biggest spider? Probably best avoided by the squeamish! 

Body Temperature
This is another great and easy science fair project which will encourage teenagers to discuss topics they would normally avoid. Taking their own temperature at scheduled times during the day will show them how it changes. Send them off exercising for half an hour (easy if they are at an adventure camp) and check their temperature immediately after exercise and an hour or so later. Explain the consequences of their body temperature dropping too low or too high.  

Summer science fairs are ideal for stopping the summer brain drain and getting kids of all ages involved in their environment and understand themselves too. This is your challenge should you choose to accept it. Turn off the computer and get them outside! 

Biog: Kate Smedley looks at innovative summer camps to get through the school holidays. 

Parallel Lives and the Parallel Universes Theory

Parallel lives are said to be a simultaneous, multiple incarnation by same over-soul and it justifies or explains the idea of how reincarnation really works and resolves the conflicts in an individual’s life. Basically there are two main ideas which define parallel lives the most. The first idea was taken from an ancient Greek Plutarch known as Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus in Roman and the second idea was taken from the concept of reincarnation and ascensions. 

This first concept was rooted from the Plutarch’s Lives of Noble Greeks and Romans where it is a patterned series of biographies of famous men in the late first century arranged in tandem with accordance to their common moral virtues and failings in order to illuminate their similarities. These biographies contain twenty-three pairs and each pair involves of one Greek and one Roman individual, as well as another four unpaired, single lives. As defined by dictionaries, it literally means embodied in flesh which refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature which manifests the entity of God or force who’s the original immaterial nature.

According to Plutarch, his motivation to do this work is not for the purpose of identifying the history of Greeks and Romans but rather exploring the influences of each characters life and destinies of these famous individuals, may it be good or bad. The interest of his work is primarily for an ethical reason for Plutarch wants to prove that Greece has more impressive past remote experience that Rome due its men of action and achievements. According to ancient history, Plutarch’s Lives manuscripts were first published in the 10th and 11th century wherein the first edition appeared in Florence, Italy in 1517.

Then on, several editions were printed in English by Jacob Tonson in the 17th century starting with 5-volume edition in 1688 and following editions were printed during the years of 1693, 1702, 1716 and 1727.  However, the first pair of lives, Epaminonda-Scipio Afrinacus no longer exists and some lives are shortened which obviously contains gap or tampered with other writers. It is also stated that the life of Alexander is one of the five surviving secondary or tertiary sources about Alexander the Great which includes the anecdotes of incidents that appear only in the Parallel Lives of Plutarch.

At present, Plutarch’s lives are translated according to key abbreviations such as D for Dryden, the famous editor in chief to the first complete English Translation, G for Project Gutenberg which contains several versions of the 19th century translations which includes the translation of the English poet Arthur Hugh Cloughs, L for LacusCurtius which has the Loeb translation of Bernadotte Perrin and lastly P or the Perseus Project which contains several paired lives which are written in Greek and English according to the Loeb edition of Bernadotte Perinn and abbreviated versions of Thomas North translations. Since the publication of Parallel Lives, Plutarch’s work has been bombarded with criticisms due to his lack of judicious discrimination in using authorities as well as consequent errors and inaccuracies.

However, historians praised his work due the abundance of citations and large number of valuable events and information that became a big help in filling up numerous gaps in historical knowledge. Recognition is also given for the dynamism and warmth of his portrayals as well for his moral sincerity and enthusiasm in writing those biographies in such that large circles of readers throughout the ages are attracted to read his work.

Aside from the Plutarch’s lives and biographies, another different point of view regarding Parallel lives where raised specifically in the area of reincarnation and parallel worlds. Some individuals think that the concept is said to be a non-physical life that is very different from the life a person at present wherein the express aspect of the human being are often complementary to their own life.

The main point of this idea is that an individual’s life today may lead into an opposite parallel life in the future such that if a person is very rich today, that person may become very poor in his parallel life in the future as well as individuals who are happily married now may lead into a lonesome and single individual in his future parallel life. The concept of this idea is quite tricky for individuals need to learn to accept the reality of the world and avoid criticizing other people in order to have a clear and stable mind.

It emphasizes the importance of avoiding psychological unstable state of thinking for it might exacerbate instability of thoughts for stabilizing once thought provides more opportunities to reduce the number of judgments an individual holds towards others which means as an individual judges another individual, his opinion will become a part of himself in a non–physical parallel life that may affect his way of living in the future. Parallel Lives takes up a lot of energy and that energy is very useful in the ascension process or the sequence of internal shifts of consciousness leading to a more progressive and higher vibrational state. Given with these facts and ideas, the concept of Parallel lives has only shown that reincarnations really do exists as evidenced with the idea of change of an individual’s parallel life as he failed to maintain the stability of his mind. 

Although the ideas regarding Parallel Lives are somewhat different from each other as Plutarch’s idea is based on his series of biographies while the other concept is based on reincarnations and ascensions, it only shows that these ideas have linked with each other to come up with a common main point. The main point of both ideas is that each individual has a series of Parallel Lives or reincarnations which traveled from one generation to the other to evaluate oneself based on his deeds and achievements in the past so that it can be improved and changed in order to resolve certain conflicts within there lives as they move on to their next parallel life. 

Learn more about parallel lives and psychokinesis.

BOOK REVIEW: My Little Book Of Bald Eagles by Hope Irvin Marston

My Little Book of Bald Eagles

Author:  Hope Irvin Marston
Illustrated:  Stephanie Mirocha
Paperback:  32 pages
Publisher:  Windward Pub Co (June 30, 2009)
Language:  English

This is a delightful story about a new family of bald eagles. From newborn's first lessons in life to the first solo flight, this beautifully illustrated book is ideal for introducing young children to the wonders of nature.

My Little Book of Bald Eagles is a beautifully written and depicted picture book.  The illustrations are expressive and the colours are wonderful.  

The book shares with children all that makes Bald Eagles the magnificent bird they are.  From the tending of their young, learning how to fish and fly as well as nest building are all explained within.  The book is filled with facts and would make a great early learner book to have in your home.

I loved the feeling of adventure as you read through the pages and appreciated the questions my children asked as they read it.  The book was a definite hit with the readers in my family and my son wishes to use it one day for a project.

I would give My Little Book of Bald Eagles a five out of five stars.  It's easily understood and easy to share with readers of all ages.


**  Reviewed by me...as I see it~!!  **

Bacteria Science Fair Projects for Kids

Let’s explore some cool bacteria science fair projects for kids. Bacteria are tiny, microscopic organisms that are made up of hundreds of thousands of species. They come in various shapes and sizes that spread throughout many agents such as land, water, the atmosphere even animal and human bodies. One may think that all bacteria are bad ... and some are. You may be surprised to learn that many are good for you.

Bacteria multiply at a rapid pace, amounting to colossal amounts in any given second. Pretty impressive huh? But that’s not all. Believe it or not... they grow whether their dead or alive, depending on the adaptability, living conditions and aiding agents.

The most important role of bacteria is to act as a natural ingredient for decomposition of waste and other microorganisms. They travel on variety of different agents such as air and water to assist in their rapid growth but some bacteria do not need agents to multiply. There are bacteria that can grow without agents. They are made up of permanent or temporary cilia. Cilia are hair-like organisms that aid in the movement of the bacteria.

This formation almost gives bacteria a human-like structure. But since bacteria do not have a nucleus they are not classified as such. Their DNA, instead of orderly stranded connection, floats inside the bacteria cell which gives them a blob like appearance.

Living organisms have five classifying categories of bacteria: Animala (animal), Plantae (plants), Monera (blue-green algae), Protista (Protozans) and fungi.

To explore the differences amongst the bacteria that live on our planet, I have listed a ideas to you started. Perhaps these will encourage you to create your own bacteria science fair project. Remember, bacteria are around us everywhere we turn. Take a swab and discovery what types of bacteria are in your space.

Types of exciting bacteria science fair projects include:

1. Does a public restroom contain more bacteria than a bathroom in your house?
2. Which has more bacteria, your dog/cat's mouth or a human mouth?
3. Does the process of reusing a water bottle contain a significant amount of bacteria?
4. What effects the growth of bacteria in clean or dirty environments?
5. How much bacteria does a hand sanitizer really eliminate when used?

Tip
Choose a science fair project that you are interested in, one that will be fun for you to do and will keep your interest for at lease a month. If it the project for you then you will get more excited about it as time goes on.

Explore the SuperScienceFairProjects.com website for a lot of free abstracts and ideas as well as more microbiology science fair projects.